
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Copyright No. 

Shelf.iRi.£.fA S 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 


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SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 







SARDIS AND THE 
SPIRIT-GUEST 

THE STORY OF A DREAM 


BY ^ 

JOSEPHINE RAND 



0 

NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 

31 West Twenty-third Street 
1897 

t. 


Copyright 

E. P. DUTTON & CO. 
1897 


Ube Iknicfteibocber pveas, 14ew £^vtt 


Sardis and the Spirit- 
Guest. 




HE was on her knees. Her 



lips framed a prayer, and ut- 
tered the words fluently. It was a 
short prayer. The closing words 
were these : 

'‘O Holy Spirit, fill my heart. 
Come and abide with me forever, 
and let my life show forth thy 
praise, — a light to lighten others.” 

She rose from her knees. Her 
Bible lay upon the stand. She 
touched it doubtfully. 

** It is too late to read a chapter 
now,” she said. ^‘Yet I might 


2 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

read a verse or two, and will, so 
that I may not break resolu- 
tion to read something of Holy 
Scripture every day.” 

She opened the book at random. 
Her eye was caught by the first 
verse of the third chapter of Reve- 
lation. 

Why, here is my name ! ” she ex- 
claimed, “ Sardis ! — How strange ! 
I did not know my name was in 
the Bible. I never cared for Rev- 
elation, — never read much of it. 
But what, I wonder, does it say 
about me here ? ” 

She smiled at the passing fancy, 
and began to read : 

'' And unto the angel of the 
church in Sardis write : These 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 3 

things saith he that hath the seven 
Spirits of God and the seven stars : 
I know thy works, that thou hast a 
name that thou livest, and art dead.” 

The reader was conscious of 
feeling something very like a shock 
as she read the words. 

So this was what it said of Sar- 
dis ! 

She read the words again : — 
“ Thou hast a name that thou livest y 
and art deadi^ 

What else ? 

“ Be watchful, and strengthen 
the things which remain, that are 
ready to die : for I have not found 
thy works perfect before God. 
Remember therefore how thou 
hast received and heard, and hold 


4 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

fast, and repent. If therefore thou 
shalt not watch, I will come on thee 
as a thief, and thou shalt not know 
what hour I will come upon thee.” 

What an unwelcome message ! 
Why had she turned to Revelation ? 
Had she not always avoided it ? 

And yet she could not but go 
on, her name in the next verse 
claimed her attention : 

Thou hast a few names even 
in Sardis which have not defiled 
their garments : and they shall 
walk with me in white : for they 
are worthy. He that overcometh, 
the same shall be clothed in white 
raiment ; and I will not blot out 
his name out of the book of life — ” 
(Sardis paused. So a name could 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 5 

be blotted out that had once been 
written there?) — “but I will con- 
fess his name before my Father and 
before his angels. He that hath 
an ear let him hear what the Spirit 
saith unto the churches. And to 
the angel of the church in Phila- 
delphia — 

But that was all it said about 
Sardis ? She closed the Book, not 
without a feeling of relief ; howbeit 
the words she had read still haunted 
her unpleasantly. 

It was late, and Sardis prepared 
to retire. 

Taking off a beautiful gem- 
studded watch she wound it, glanc- 
ing at the face where the two 
hands, close together, pointed di- 


6 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


rectly upward over the mark of 
twelve. 

A day was dying, a day was 
being born ; and the indicators of 
time pointed to the heavens as a 
reminder of the Power which meas- 
ured out man’s days, fulfilled ap- 
pointed seasons, and held within 
H is hand the issues of eternity. 

But Sardis saw only that it was 
twelve o’clock, and hastened her 
preparations for sleeping. 

The family had that evening re- 
ceived a guest, a college-mate of 
Sardis’s oldest brother, and an ad- 
mirer of Sardis herself, as all knew, 
although no formal engagement of 
marriage had taken place between 
them. 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 7 

The best room had been pre- 
pared for him by Sardis’s deft 
hands ; everything had been done 
which love could suggest for the 
comfort of the guest ; fresh flowers 
in profusion from Sardis’s own con- 
servatory lent their beauty and 
fragrance to the atmosphere of 
cosy homelikeness which pervaded 
the room ; and Sardis was happy 
in the knowledge that her friend 
was near her, her guest, to wait 
upon and entertain for a too brief 
season. 

Wholly happy ? 

Sardis would not allow the ques- 
tion to obtrude itself upon her 
pleasant imaginings. 

To be sure she wished the man 


8 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


whom she had reason to expect 
would be her husband were a Chris- 
tian, like herself ; wished that he 
did not find it in his heart to rally 
her in a joking way upon her con- 
version and Christian profession, 
as he had done in company with 
others — those of her own people, 
all of whom ignored the claims of 
Christ and looked upon Sardis as 
the weak member of the family for 
pinning her faith to a tradition, 
foolish and unfounded.” 

But then, she could not expect 
him to think or believe just as she 
did, and possibly — even this poten- 
tiality appeared to her just then 
as hopelessly weak — possibly he 
might later be brought to confess 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 9 

the Lord, — her Lord, — and then 
she could ask nothing further. 

She turned off the light, threw 
up the window-shade, and stood 
for a moment admiring the beauti- 
ful night made glorious by a full 
moon. 

How still it was ! — and solemn ! 
The moon looked down on her 
with searching gaze, and suddenly 
seemed to say: — Thou hast a 
name that thou livest, and art deadT 

Sardis turned away with some- 
thing like a shiver. It was not a 
pleasant thought to take to bed 
with one. She would forget it as 
soon as might be. 

The moon filled all the room 
with light, but Sardis closed her 


lO SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


eyes, — and slept ; and then she 
dreamed. 

She stood upon the lawn with 
the moonlight streaming round 
her. And suddenly a beauteous 
form approached, and a wondrous 
voice addressed her. It said : — 
“ My child, I have heard thy peti- 
tion, even that I should come and 
abide in thine heart. And I have 
come according to thy prayer, 
glad that thou dost want me.” 

Like one bereft of mind — of 
breath itself — Sardis stood gazing 
at the white-robed Stranger. 

How beautiful He was ! How 
altogether glorious ! 

Was He the guest whose pres- 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 1 1 


ence she had many times invoked, 
and had He really come at last to 
abide in the heart she had offered 
Him? 

Alas ! Alas ! Could she but 
have known her prayer was to be 
answered, so that she might have 
prepared a place for Him to stay ! 

Where could she take Him? 
what say to Him who stood, in 
patience, waiting for greeting and 
for welcome ? 

She had no word to say. He 
came to her relief : 

'‘Thou hast given me thine 
heart for an abiding-place. Hast 
thou with thee the key that I may 
enter in and take possession of 
mine own ? Or doth another carry 


12 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


it, that we must go and ask it of 
the holder?” 

The Spirit gazed at her most 
kindly, yet with serious question- 
ing. 

Her eyes fell. No one has 
the key but mine own self,” she 
answered, not seeing the expres- 
sion which this speech brought 
forth on the beautiful face of the 
Stranger. “ I will take you to the 
house,” she added, seeming to look 
upon her heart as a building of 
many rooms to which they must 
walk together. But I fear things 
are not in order. You see I did 
not know you were coming, and 
so I did not get ready for you. 
I am sorry — I wish I had known.” 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 1 3 

And to herself she added : '' Oh, 
why did I invite him ? The place 
is in confusion. What room in all 
the house is fit to give the Holy 
Spirit? Yet I have asked Him 
many times, — have asked Him to 
abide, I cannot refuse Him ad- 
mittance, now that He is come. I 
must in some way make a place for 
Him.” 

Did the Spirit read her thoughts ? 
He did not speak, but a sadness 
indescribable lay on the white, 
white face. 

They walked a little distance. 
Then Sardis stopped before a 
mansion, exclaiming as she did 
so : 

The lights are all out ! I do 


14 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

not understand it. I thought I 
left it lighted in every room. How 
dark it is ! I am sorry it has so 
chanced, but perhaps I can find a 
lamp." 

Dost thou not bear thy lamp 
with thee, — ‘a light to lighten 
others ’ ? " 

Sardis remembered her prayer 
that her life might be such a light. 
What had she meant, she won- 
dered. Surely she bore no light to 
illumine even her own house. 

She was hunting for her key. 
She found it, and would have de- 
livered it to the Spirit that He 
might open the door. But He 
waived the right, and said : — 
** Thou tellest me that it is held by 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST I 5 

no one but I know not 

how to use that kind of key. Ope 
thou the door for me.” 

With trembling she obeyed. 
Would the presence of this Guest 
bring joy and peace and blessing 
to her heart, as she had long been 
taught? How think it possible? 
Was not her whole soul quaking at 
the thought of introducing Him 
into the hidden life — into the inner 
sanctuary of this house ? 

The hall was very dark, but, as 
they gained an entrance, there 
beamed so pure a light that Sardis 
gazed about in wonder, not know- 
ing at first whence it came. 

And lo ! the light was radiating 
from the Spirit-Guest ! who, now, 


1 6 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


with gracious mien, seemingly un- 
conscious of her wonder, stepped to 
a door, the nearest one, ajar, and 
entering the room, looked round 
about Him. 

Sardis looked too, aghast at the 
confusion ; a most unwilling wit- 
ness of her own life’s symbols. 

A lounge, costly and luxurious, 
stood in the centre, whereon were 
magazines, papers and several 
books. One of the latter lay open, 
face down, upon a cushion. 

The Stranger sat Him down and 
raised the book. 

'‘Zola?” He said. “And dost 
thou like such works ? ” 

He laid His hand upon another 
novel at His side, but Sardis could 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST I 7 

not speak, could only mourn this 
most untimely visit of the pure- 
eyed Stranger. 

A bulky Sunday paper touched 
his feet ; and surely those pure 
eyes were gazing straight at the 
large-print title ! 

What could she say? .Her 
tongue refused excuses. 

The Spirit sighed and looked 
about the room. All of its fur- 
nishings were elegant ; but His 
searching eyes quickly passed them 
by and rested on a well-filled book- 
case. 

He rose and went thereto, and 
eagerly scanned the titles, only to 
show again the sadness of disap- 
pointment. 


1 8 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


They were poems, ancient and 
modern ; fiction by standard au- 
thors ; histories, travels, tales ; — 
yet something was wanting. 

Hast thou no works which 
treat of heavenly matters?” He 
asked the question sorrowfully. 

Tears came to Sardis’s eyes. 
The house that they stood in 
trembled. 

None that I think of,” she 
said. — Except, of course, the 
Bible.” 

She looked a little hopeful as 
she said that word ; glad she could 
name one book of which He could 
approve. But the flicker of hope 
died away with an upward glance 
at H is face. 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 1 9 

And yet His voice was tender, 
ah ! very tender, as He said : 

“ What feedest thou upon ? 
Canst thou from books like these 
draw thy soul’s nourishment — the 
Bread of Life? Dost thou not 
know a hunger which is never filled, 
— a thirst which is not quenched ?” 

Did she indeed ? Not till that 
moment truly : but suddenly such 
hunger and such thirst seemed 
possible to Sardis. 

The Spirit turned as if to leave 
the room, glancing, as He did so, at 
something on a bracket against the 
wall. 

To her surprise, Sardis herself 
beheld there something she had 


never seen. 


20 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


It was the figure of an idol. 
How came it there ? 

Wondering with a great wonder 
at the presence of this object, she 
followed her Guest, who was saying : 

Perchance some other room 
will please me more. There is 
naught here for my enjoyment. 
Let us go hence.” 

And Sardis all at once remem- 
bered in what condition the room 
which He was now entering had 
been left, in order to make prepar- 
ations in her fathers house for 
receiving her brother’s friend. 

Oh, if He had but chosen al- 
most any other room ! She had 
not had time to clear it since the 
last gathering here, and now ? — 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 21 


The Spirit stood gazing, all- 
qiiietly, about Him. 

Some half-dozen tables were 
scattered over the room, on each 
of them playing-cards in confusion. 

On the table nearest them stood 
a handsome morocco case. The 
Spirit picked it up. It contained 
a pack of cards, new, smooth, and 
shining. 

Sardis, with such shame at heart 
as she had never known, proceeded 
to explain : 

This was a gift to me : I drew 
the prize — ” 

‘‘ The prize ? ” He said. “ For 
what, my child ? ” 

He did not look at her : per- 
chance for very mercy. While 


22 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


she delayed to answer He said 
gently : 

“ Thou hast read doubtless the 
command : ' So run that ye may 
obtain/ Thou hast run and ob- 
tained, — but what ? Paul pressed 
toward the mark for the prize of 
the high calling which is in Christ 
Jesus. This is another matter, — a 
very different prize ; and yet no 
doubt it speaketh of many hours 
of labor to the end that thou 
shouldst so excel thy fellow- 
workers ; ‘ for know ye not that they 
which run in a race, run all, but one 
receiveth the prize ’ ? ” 

How answer the Spirit’s ques- 
tion ? How acknowledge the 
countless hours she had spent in 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 23 

this favorite pastime ? And yet, 
what harm in cards ? Such inno- 
cent amusement ! 

Amusement? Had she not al- 
lowed it to become a study — a pas- 
sion — an absorbing pursuit ? And 
that card-party, with its competi- 
tion and its prizes, what was it after 
all but a refined sort of gambling ? 

She raised her eyes, but could 
not face her Guest. 

She saw upon another bracket 
on the wall the figure of an idol, 
and shivered as she thought : “I 
did not place it there. Whence 
comes it ? ” 

The Spirit waited patiently. His 
question was not answered. He did 
not choose to press it. 


24 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

He laid the card-case down and 
with a sigh said tenderly : 

'' And dost thou find these 
things profitable ? — ‘ having prom- 
ise of the life that now is, and of 
that which is to come ’ ” 

His gaze commanded hers. She 
could not help but meet His holy 
glance. Stricken with pain, her 
only answer was a pleading look, a 
piteous appeal for mercy, which He 
did not spurn. 

He traversed the long room 
thoughtfully, and Sardis could not 
feel affronted when He said : 

“ I may not find my rest in this 
room. Let us seek another.” 

Relieved to close the door on the 
scene of shame and suffering, Sar- 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 25 

dis remembered that the room He 
was entering was somewhat disor- 
dered by preparations for a church 
fair ; but that, she thought, could 
not offer any opportunity for re- 
proach, even an unspoken one. 

She was glad He had chosen 
this room. She was owning to her- 
self that there were certain rooms 
in this heart of hers which offered 
a blacker picture than any He had 
yet seen ; but they were secret 
rooms, entered by no one but 
herself, and fortunately securely 
locked. 

She hoped He would not ask to 
see the whole house, but perchance 
find this room, devoted to church 
work, in accordance with His tastes, 


26 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


and be contented to remain here 
without further investigation. 

She followed Him into the room, 
a large, luxurious apartment, in the 
centre of which stood a table piled 
with various fancy articles. There 
were lounges and chairs scattered 
about, on some of them signs of 
work in progress ; and there were 
other tables ; but by the central 
one the Spirit took His stand and 
looked down thoughtfully upon its 
contents. 

'' These things are for a church 
fair,” said Sardis, thinking to arouse 
some interest in the mind of Him 
who, as yet, gave no sign of being 
interested. 

^‘Yea?” said the Spirit; and, 
after a pause : 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 27 

“ Whose church ? ” 

“ The Rev. Leighton Power’s 
church,” she replied. “ One of our 
pastors here ; — the church which I 
attend.” 

She glanced at her Guest’s face. 
Surely something was wrong. Had 
she misunderstood Him? She 
waited for Him to speak. 

And is there in the town one 
of God’s churches ? ” 

He asked the question quietly, 
as one might ask his fellow-man for 
needed information. 

Sardis felt the warm blood leap 
to her cheek and brow. But as 
she looked into those wondrous 
eyes her very spirit failed her. She 
could not answer Him. He spoke 
again : 


28 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


'' What is it that thou sayest ? 
A church fair? Tell me what 
thou doest, and others with thee.” 

In a low and almost lifeless 
voice Sardis, with eyes upon the 
floor, made answer : 

“We make things to sell, then 
have a sale and entertainment, 
charge admission, sell all the things 
we can, and put the money into 
the church treasury.” 

“ And doth Jesus sit over against 
the treasury ? ” asked the Spirit 
quietly. 

“ I do not know,” said Sardis. 
“ I never thought concerning it.” 

“And what is done with the 
money thus collected ? ” 

“ It goes to adorn the church, or 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 29 

to build a chapel, to buy an organ 
or to — to meet any outlay which 
may be thought advisable,” was the 
faltering answer. 

'' And doth the church claim to 
have the guidance of the Holy 
Ghost in all these matters ? ” asked 
the Spirit, taking up a beautiful 
piece of embroidery of Sardis’s own 
handiwork. 

Sardis was embarrassed. To 
tell the truth she could not say 
whether the particular church to 
which she belonged made any such 
claim or not. She was embarrassed 
because, in the light of this Stran- 
ger’s face, it seemed to her that it 
ought to make such claim, and to 
make it from real experience. 


30 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

At last she found her voice. 

“ I suppose they think that, if the 
money they collect be spent in 
spreading the Gospel, they have 
the approval of the Holy Ghost,” 
she said. 

‘‘Yea, they do think so,” was 
the firm reply. “ Even as they 
think that they do spread the Gos- 
pel by such persuading and seduc- 
ing flatteries ! ” 

There was a flash in the Spirit’s 
eyes, and Sardis thrilled as if elec- 
trified. 

It was the first condemnatory 
word He had spoken. 

But now the eyes took on their 
usual calm, and with a quiet voice 
the Spirit said : 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 3 1 

This is a finished work of art. 
Didst thou do this ? ” 

I did,” she made reply. She 
spoke eagerly, for this piece of em- 
broidery was her pride and joy, the 
result of two years’ hard work dur- 
ing otherwise disengaged hours. 

“ I meant it for myself,” she ad- 
ded, looking at the work and not 
at Him, ''but finally decided to 
give it to the fair. It really was a 
sacrifice.” 

" Two years of time — for this / ” 
He groaned. 

Sardis looked up, surprised no 
less than pained. How did He 
know ? She, surely, had not told 
Him. 

And suddenly she lost her pride 


32 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

in this beautiful production. She 
could have wished it had never 
seen the light could she have thus 
been spared the look on her Guest’s 
face. 

What was He murmuring? — “ ‘ It 
really was a sacrifice ’ ! ” — her very 
words a moment since. 

What was there in the speech 
that suddenly called up before her 
a scene of awful anguish ? — that 
sent these words through all her 
veins like streams of living fire : — 

Christ our Passover is sacrificed 
for us After he had ojfered 

one sacrifice for sins ” ? 

The remembrance of a strain of 
song, like a bird upon the wing, 
flitted before her and was gone : 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 33 

“ I gave^ I gave my life for thee^ 

What hast thou given for me?** 

Sardis grew cold. Her eyes 
were riveted upon the embroidered 
cloth. She seemed to read a text 
in silken colors : 

I beseech you therefore, breth- 
ren , . . that ye present your 

bodies a living sacrifice y holy, accep- 
table unto God, which is your rea- 
sonable service.” 

And then she saw her work laid 
down by hands of a holy beauty. 

The Spirit moved a little dis- 
tance : a certain object on the ta- 
ble seemed to claim His attention. 
It stood apart, conspicuous by it- 
self ; a large cake, elaborately dec- 
orated. 


34 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

‘‘And what may this be for?” 
the Spirit asked. 

Sardis’s cheeks burned as with a 
fever. 

“ For the fair,” she made reply. 

“ To be broken and eaten ? ” He 
questioned. 

Something in His sorrowful 
voice caused Sardis to recall these 
words : 

“Take, eat: this is my body 
which is broken for you : this do in 
remembrance of me.” 

“ No,” she stammered at last, 
“ not that!' and recoiled as if some- 
thing had stung her. “ It is to 
raise money for the church. We 
sell tickets to as many people as 
possible, and a certain ticket wins.” 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 35 

Ah ! a raffle ! ” He said. 

They don’t call it that,” she 
stammered. 

Nay, verily,” was the answer. 

But thou sayest that by these 
things thy church” (there was a 
slight emphasis on thy^ doth 
‘raise money.’ Is it made up of 
such poor people, then, that they 
must needs resort to these means 
of raising money ? ” 

“ Oh, no,” she answered, quickly, 
it is a wealthy congregation, per- 
haps the wealthiest in the city.” 

“ Ah ! ‘ Unto whomsoever much 
is given, of him shall much be re- 
quired.’ Doth thy church also 
raise the multitudes out of the 
bondage of their sins into the lib- 


36 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

erty of the sons of God ? Doth it 
cast out demons ? Doth it raise 
the sick to health ? Doth it raise 
the dead ? ” 

Remorse and terror shook all 
the house in which they stood, — 
this building she had called her 
heart, and which for the first time 
in its life felt the illuminating 
power of the Light from heaven. 

What could she answer for this 
church of hers ? 

Did it indeed do any of these 
things which He had mentioned ? 
Certainly none of them, unless per- 
haps the work of saving sinners now 
and then, — but surely not multi- 
tudes : ” did she not now remember 
that for the whole year past, so far 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 37 

as she knew, not one converted 
sinner had been brought to Christ ? 

She shuddered and did not an- 
swer. 

The Spirit spoke again : 

** Thou spakest but a moment 
since of choirs belonging to thy 
church. And are thy singers holy 
men of God who thus chant praise 
to Him ? 

“ Our singers are professionals,” 
she said. '' They have a reputation, 
and are very fine. We claim we 
have the best in all the city.” 

“ Best singers or best Christ- 
ians ? ” he inquired. 

“ Best singers only,” she replied. 

I do not think that any of them 
are Christians — the soloists, I mean. 


38 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

Some of the chorus are believers, 
myself among the number.” 

And doth thy church enjoy 
hymns of praise from unbelieving 
lips ?” He asked. 

They think the music grand,” 
she said. “ I never heard objec- 
tion made because of unbelief. 
They pay a large sum for the sev- 
eral salaries, and have no special 
trouble to raise the mo — ney.” 

She wished she had not used that 
phrase again. She would avoid it 
henceforth. 

Whence doth thy church draw 
sanction for ungodly choirs ? Not 
surely from the Gospels or Epis- 
tles ? Hast thou not read Paul’s let- 
ter, — speaking by the Holy Ghost 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 39 

to followers of Christ, — whose 
words run thus: ‘Teaching and 
admonishing one another in psalms 
and hymns and spiritual songs, 
singing with grace in your hearts 
to the Lord ’ ? Shall he who 
hath no knowledge of this grace 
sing with a lying lip salvation’s 
song ? ” 

Sardis did not reply. 

“ Whence doth thy church get 
sanction for its fairs, bazaars ? 
— its entertainments for the out- 
side world ? its fellowship in all 
the world s enjoyments, ways, and 
methods ? Hast thou commission 
from God’s servant Paul ? — from 
Peter, James, or the Apostle John ? 
Hast never read : ‘ Come out my peo- 


40 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

pie,'' and ' Be ye separate, saith the 
Lord’?" 

The Spirit sighed. He clasped 
His hands and gazed about the 
room, seemingly viewing all things, 
from the furnishings even unto the 
works displayed. And as He 
gazed, the light from His person 
so glowed, grew so intense, so pen- 
etrated every smallest thing de- 
signed or with long hours of labor 
finished for the purpose specified, 
that Sardis could not bear the 
sight and closed her eyes against 
it. 

When once again she opened 
them, she saw a group of idols on 
the wall, and lo ! her Guest was 
passing from the room. She could 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 4 1 

not choose but follow. Rather 
would she have prevented Him, for 
surely there was nothing there — 
the room to which He went — to 
interest the Spirit. She would 
have interfered had she had time. 
But He had entered now, and Sar- 
dis followed close behind, with 
timid, weak remonstrance. 

“This is an empty room,” she 
said. 

She needed not to tell Him. 

No furnishings whatever met the 
eye, save only a grand piano. 
This stood at one end of the room, 
open, and strewed with music. A 
violinist’s rack stood by it. The 
room was very long ; the floor of 
hard wood, polished, shining. 


42 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

The Spirit looked at Sardis as 
for explanation. 

We dance here sometimes — 
just our social set. I am very 
fond — ” she hesitated — “ or have 
been—” 

She did not finish the sen- 
tence. She saw the Spirit gazing 
straight at an object on the piano. 
She turned to look, and lo, another 
idol, large, conspicuous, with noth- 
ing near to hide or help conceal it. 

When once again she turned 
her eyes to Him, she felt a thrill 
of agony in all her being. 

The light was streaming from 
His person, and in its rays she saw 
a panorama of her own past life. 

Night after night — so many 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 43 

nights she did not try to count 
them — went hurrying by, labelled 
with cards and dancing. 

One figure stood prominently 
out as an interested participator 
in many of these festal scenes ; 
the man who lay asleep beneath 
her father’s roof, bearing the 
envied reputation of being the 
best dancer and the best card- 
player in the college ; the man 
who would doubtless during this 
present visit declare to her his 
passion and ask her to be his 
wife ! 

The thought horrified her. 
Yet she could not withdraw her 
eyes from the passing pictures 
before her. 


44 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

She saw a gathering of Christ- 
ians praying and working together, 
crying out mightily for the Spirit 
to come amongst them ; and be- 
side it she saw this room, the 
social dance in progress, and 
remembered the words of a visit- 
ing minister of God, to the effect 
that of all influences over the young 
that which he dreaded most when 
attempting to revive God’s work, 
the greatest and most discourag- 
ing, was that of dancing. And 
she remembered, too, how at that 
time she had declared that the 
meetings were not in her church, 
that, moreover, revivals were for 
the ^/^converted and not for the 
converted ; and so she had stayed 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 45 

away and joined in social revelry, 
unmindful of the peril of her 
fellow-men. 

Was the peril theirs only ? The 
thought came suddenly, and Sardis 
gasped. 

And now she saw a motley 
scene ; things strangely mixed and 
disordered. 

Expensive gowns and laces, 
jewels of silver and gold, pearls 
and costly array, passed quickly 
before her gaze, carried by unseen 
hands. Sumptuous tables passed 
by, speaking of banquetings and 
feastings : borne on a bier in the 
midst, was the skeleton form of 
a pauper. Theatre parties in 
groups applauded their favorite 


46 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

players. The church of her choice 
flitted by, a secular concert in pro- 
gress. 

Then came a group from the 
slums, unwashed, unfed, untaught 
as heathen in lands of darkness ; 
and oh, how hungry they looked — 
hungry in soul and body ! 

They stretched out their eager 
hands to grasp at the tables of 
dainties. They snatched at the 
beautiful gowns, and their eyes 
drank the light of the jewels. 
They thirsted to smell of the 
flowers which adorned the sumpt- 
uous boards, but which ever eluded 
their grasp like the food and the 
gowns and the jewels. 

And Sardis grew sick as she 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 47 

gazed, and prayed that the scene 
might pass away. O God, was 
it thus she had lived? Have 
mercy, have mercy upon her ! 

And lo, the dread vision now 
vanished. She was gazing upon 
a scroll : a beautiful, white, white 
scroll, written as with the finger 
of God in burnished letters of 
gold ; 

Love not the world, neither the 
things that are in the world. . . . 
For all that is in the world, the 
lust of the flesh, and the lust of the 
eyes, and the pride of life, is not 
of the Father, but is of the world. 
And the world passeth away, and 
the lust thereof : but he that doeth 
the will of God abideth forever.” 


48 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

A Strange and solemn hush fell 
upon Sardis’s heart. She stood 
where the two ways meet. Should 
God or the world prevail ? 

And then the writing faded. 
The light was fading too. Her 
Guest was moving from her, and 
the wondrous rays went with Him. 

She stood as rooted to the spot, 
and it was growing dark around 
her. 

She could not let the Light go 
from her thus ! She must go to 
Him. 

And then a sudden thought 
flashed through her troubled brain. 

Her Guest stood in the hall. 
He had found no room to His 
liking. What if He should ascend 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 49 

the stairs, to visit the upper cham- 
bers ? 

At the mere thought she clasped 
her hands tightly over her bosom, 
where lay the keys to her secret 
belongings. 

Was she sure that the closets 
were fastened ? 

With a supreme effort she gained 
the hall by another door, and faced 
the shining Stranger. 

‘'And hast thou other rooms 
than these ?” He asked. And oh, 
upon His face such pain there lay ! 

Sardis grew faint : she scarce 
could breathe ; and not so much 
from recent fears as that the look 
upon that face betokened near 
departure. 


50 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

He was so beautiful, so good, so 
pure! — how could she have Him 
go ? How suffer Him to leave 
her? 

“ Oh, do not go, most holy 
Guest,” she cried. 

She would have rushed to Him, 
but could not. 

He did not speak : — and then 
she saw a very strange thing 
happen. 

All suddenly between herself and 
her Guest there stood a company 
of idols ; and to their number there 
were flocking more, — those she 
had seen on brackets in the various 
rooms. Down-stairs came others, 
joining the strange throng in 
solemn, noiseless, wonderful pro- 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 5 I 

cession. And all of them took up 
their stand between her and her 
Guest. 

They seemed to fill the space — 
the very air ; — she scarce could see 
Him now, save for the light which 
shone with such intenseness on 
each separate idol. How hideous 
they were ! And — yes, ’t was they 
that kept both soul and body from 
approach to Him ! She could no 
more endure them. 

The building shook — this house 
of idols, this heart of hers now 
trembling to its foundation-stones 
at thought of His departure. 

This one most precious Pearl 
she must possess : she could no 
longer live her life without It I 


52 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

And yet she could not speak, 
could only agonize in heart, could 
move no nearer to Him. 

The Spirit spoke : — ‘‘ Thou 

hast yet other rooms to which 
thou hast not taken me : yet have I 
seen them, I find in all this house 
no spot, no place where I may lay 
me down in peace and be at rest.” 

An inspiration came to Sardis’s 
mind. 

'' O Guest,” she cried ; '' you 
have not seen my flower-room, my 
beautiful conservatory. O come 
with me ! Why showed I not that 
first?” 

The idols vanished. She has- 
tened to His side, and led Him out 
into a glass-roofed room, where 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 53 

bloomed a host of flowers. Their 
fragrance filled the air. Their 
beauty charmed the senses. All 
silently they shed abroad their tes- 
timony eloquent. And lo, the 
Spirit smiled, gazing with rapture 
on their upturned faces. 

Yea, He put forth His hands and 
touched them with caressing touch, 
and beamed and glowed upon them 
with a wondrous shining. 

Consider the lilies, how they 
grow,” He murmured. 

And Sardis could not speak : — 
not now for fear and trembling, but 
she could not break the holy spell 
which seemed to breathe upon her. 

H ow He must love them ! 
Could it be that flowers could 


54 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

draw such smiles from that late 
sorrowing face ? 

Would she not give her life to 
win a smile like that ? — such love, 
such peace, such holy, blessdd 
shining. 

The Spirit stood before a bed of 
lilies. Not one of them need 
droop in shame before That holy 
gaze ; each one a perfect flower, 
giving God glory. 

How white they were, how pure, 
how solemn, and how holy ! 

The Spirit gazed and gazed, and 
oh, the light streamed from His 
heart and sparkled, glowed, and 
scintillated till all the flowers 
seemed bathed in love ; — their lit- 
tle souls seemed bursting. 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 55 

A line, familiar, came to Sardis's 
mind, standing all breathless lest 
the picture fade : 

“ In the beauty of the lilies Christ was 
born across the sea. 

With a glory in His bosom which transfig- 
ures you and me.” 

Yet she had never thought of 
Christ in such a light before. 

And other lines came to her now ; 
they seemed familiar, yet wondered 
she at knowing them : 

“I am the rose of Sharon, the 
lily of the valleys. As the lily 
among thorns, so is my love am.ong 
the daughters." 

And Sardis, standing there a si- 
lent witness to His wondrous love, 
knew that this Lily of the valleys 


56 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

was the Son of God, the Altogether 
Lovely, the Flower of flowers. 

** As the lily among thorns, so is 
my love among the daughters.” 

She knew there were those who 
could claim His love ; yea, His 
great love and His abiding pres- 
ence. 

Before her eyes she seemed to 
see, in letters wrought with flowers : 

“ My beloved is mine and I am 
his : he feedeth among the lilies.” 

Oh, might i-^^but sing that song, 
— sing it in truth forever ! 

Alas ! It could not be. Had He 
not told her that in all her house 
there was no place where He might 
find His rest ? 

Yet now He seemed content? 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 57 

Might it not be that here among 
the lilies He might make His 
home ? 

Still, not as her Beloved ! 

Through all her heart again the 
agony of pain and love's regret ! 
Oh ! that her heart were clean ! 
She could not bear that all the 
Light and Love and Glory should 
go out from it ! 

Ah ! she would plead with Him ; 
beg Him to stay ! He would not 
— could not say her nay ! She 
started toward Him. 

The Spirit turned as if made 
conscious but that moment of her 
presence. 

And He was murmuring these 
words, in smothered tenderness: 


58 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

** I am my beloved’s, and my 
beloved is mine.” 

The light which had so glowed 
now faded ; the sadness came again 
into the beauteous face. 

Then Sardis spoke : 

“O stay among my flowers ! 
Can you not make your home with 
them, seeing you love them so ? ” 

'‘Yea, I do love them for them- 
selves,” He said. “ But even this 
room in thy heart is made a temple 
of high selfishness. Thou carest 
but for thine own pleasure in this 
matter, and that thy special friends 
may be made happy with thy sweet 
remembrances. Thou hast forgot- 
ten hospital and prison, the or- 
phans’ homes, the dens where 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 59 

swarm the poor. Thou hast not 
borne these blossoms to the weary 
sick, the destitute, the stricken. 
My suffering ones. Thou hast 
but given to the favored few, who 
could in turn compensate thee. 

Thou hast not loved flowers for 
themselves alone, or for the work 
which God created them to do. 
They preach heart-purity, but thou 
hast not heard : they paint unself- 
ishness, but thou hast not seen. 
This life — its joys and prizes — thou 
hast chosen : — in thy heart the 
Spirit hath not where to lay His 
head.” 

He turned to depart, and Sardis 
knew it. 

In vain she tried to speak, to 


6o SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

claim a look from Him. Her 
tongue refused to move ; her heart 
was bursting, 

In agony of soul she fell upon 
her knees, holding beseeching 
hands outstretched before Him. 

And then her tongue was loosed : 
‘‘ O God ! ” she cried, Take not 
thy Holy Spirit from me T' 

And lo, the moonlight filled the 
room, and Sardis, weeping fitfully, 
sat up in bed and gazed with 
streaming eyes round her own 
chamber. 

A dream ! A dream ! ” she 
cried ; ‘‘ thank God, a dream ! 
And yet I thank Thee for the 
dream, my God.’' 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 6l 


Convulsed with sobs, pressing 
her hands on her aching heart, 
she rose and gazed out eagerly 
into the silent night. How bright 
it was 1 How still ! How won- 
derful and solemn ! 

There on the lawn was where 
the wondrous Stranger had ac- 
costed her. 

And here within her was the 
house, the rooms, to which her 
Spirit-Guest had gained admit- 
tance. 

And she had asked Him there, 
had prayed for His presence : — 
alas ! alas ! — midst such unclean- 
ness, such all-worldliness, such 
idolatry and godlessness ! 

Ah ! bless the dream ! What 


62 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 


should it not do for her, the 
awakened dreamer ? 

The love of Christ should now 
constrain her to the higher life. 
His blood once shed for her should 
make her clean indeed : had not 
baptism typified her death and 
burial to worldly things, her resur- 
rection to the life in Him? Alas, 
that she so long had lived the old 
life in the risen state ! 

It should no longer be. Her 
house should be made ready for 
her Lord’s abode ; its every room 
laid open to His light and love. 

Ah ! might she ever win the 
right to claim that she was her 
Beloved’s and He hers ! 

A sudden thought flashed into 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 63 

Sardis’s mind : it blackened all the 
whiteness of the open page. She 
shuddered and exclaimed : ''Forbid 
it, Lord, that I should ever be 
that person’s wife ! I thank Thee, 
Father, for this great escape ; for 
showing me my life by the light of 
truth. Now come to me, O Holy 
Spirit, come ! make of my emptied 
heart thy cherished home ! ” 

And Sardis turned again to the 
Holy Book : what was the charge 
delivered to the church — the church 
which bore her name ? 

Turning on the light, she sought 
the reproving chapter. Over and 
over she read the burning words 
of the message, while the flame 
in her soul mounted higher and 


64 SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 

higher, and the hunger and thirst 
in her heart laid hold of the waters 
eternal. 

And even after she had closed 
the Book, reverently as never 
before, and had pressed her lips 
to the reproachful volume, she 
stood long gazing into the night — 
till moonlight faded into dawn 
and dawn grew bright again with 
morning’s glory — the words still 
sounding through her soul ; not 
always in their order, but with 
ever-growing power as she entered 
more and more fully into their 
God-filled Spirit : 

Remember therefore how thou 
hast received and heard^ and hold 
fast and repent, , , . 


SARDIS AND THE SPIRIT-GUEST 65 

“ Be wafxhful and strengthen the 
things which remain, that are ready 
to die. ... He that over- 
comethy the same shall be clothed in 
white raiment, and I will not blot 
out his name out of the book of life, 
but I will confess his name before 
my Father and before his angels. 

“ He that hath an ear, let him 
hear what the Spirit saith unto 
the churches.'' 



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